Personal

Car Stuff

Extras

Saffron and chilli lamb skewers

These are as tender as can be and come with a wonderfully rich, spicy sauce. Serve them with saffron or plain rice topped with a spoonful of yoghurt sprinkled with urfa chilli flakes. The recipe draws inspiration from the highly recommended, Food Of Life: Ancient Persian And Modern Iranian Cooking And Ceremonies, by Najmieh Batmanglij From: theguardian.com, Yotam Ottolenghi SERVES 2-4

1.5kg leg of lamb, with bone and fat, trimmed and cut into 5cm pieces (to give 800g of meat)
Salt and black pepper
3 medium tomatoes
60ml olive oil
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ tsp saffron threads
1 tsp ground dried Iranian lime
3 fresh or frozen lime leaves, finely shredded
1 tsp urfa chilli flakes (or other mild chilli flakes)
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp caster sugar

Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Season the lamb with a quarter-teaspoon of salt and some black pepper, then spike the cubes of meat on to eight skewers. Arrange these side by side in a roasting tray just large enough to accommodate them and set aside.

Coarsely grate the tomatoes into a bowl (so most of the skin stays in your hand), and discard the skin.

Heat the oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, fry gently for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic, saffron, ground dried lime, lime leaves, chilli flakes, cardamom, sugar, half a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper. Cook for a minute, stirring once or twice, then stir in the tomato flesh.

Spoon the mixture evenly over the lamb skewers, so that all the meat is coated. Cover with foil and roast for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 150C/300F/gas mark 2 and cook for two more hours, basting once, until the meat is very tender.

Place two skewers on each plate, spoon over the thick sauce from the bottom of the tray and serve at once. If there's quite a lot of runny juice left in the tray, transfer the skewers to a plate, cover and keep warm. Pour all the juices into a sauté pan, place on a high heat and cook until reduced and thickened.